Deconstructing Episode 7 – Big Moments from “Heads Up”

Tonight’s episode, “Heads Up” answered one of the season’s biggest questions, but then again left us with more. Will Morgan and Carol duke it out? Is Enid the new Sophia? What the hell is Ron doing? But first thing’s first….

Glenn is alive!

We had waited four long weeks, four very long weeks, to see what has become of Glenn. Episode three, “Thank You”, left some fans grieving, or holding out hope, as we saw Glenn go down with Nicholas into a crowd of walkers. Fans were quick to theorize that he did not actually die, even though we saw some guts, which we now know were Nicholas’. Arguably the most popular theory was that Glenn shimmied under the dumpster and waited it out, and that theory was proved correct tonight.

But, is Glenn safe for long? Glenn is still alive, but comic readers know what his fate looks like in the comics. Negan is coming, with Jeffrey Dean Morgan confirmed to be revealed during the season finale. Last week, footage leaked of Negan’s introduction into the show, with his famous barbed wire bat, Lucille. The footage showed his famous scene, beating someone to a pulp, but it was unclear who. Comic readers know this was Glenn’s demise, but will that stay true in the show? It also begs the questions, would the writers and producers really make us think Glenn might be dead, bring him back, just to kill him again in the same season? The writers can be ruthless, so we’ll just have to see.

Enid: The new Sophia?

We don’t know much about Enid. We know that her parents have died, we know that she was alone before she reached Alexandria, and we know that she goes beyond the wall frequently. That’s about all we know. Enid has been out in the world like our survivors. She’s learned how to survive, in some very crucial years of her childhood. Her angst toward Glenn this episode may have some validity. Like she stated, “The world wants to end, and we just have to let it.” She’s lost everyone she’s ever known and her staying away from everyone is supported by that simple fact.

Glenn attempting to bring Enid back to Alexandria, and his father figure presence left a lot of comic books fans with one question: Is Enid the new Sophia? In the comics, Sophia is left an orphan when Carol dies in the comics, and needs someone to look after her. Glenn and Maggie step up to the occasion and become her caretakers. We later see her calling Glenn and Maggie “mom and dad.” We’re left with a feeling that Glenn very well might “adopt” Enid in a similar fashion once they get back to Alexandria.

Ron: The Angsty Teenager

Ron has been protected by the walls of Alexandria since the start of the world’s end. He and everyone else in the walls had not witnessed the struggles and reality that is “living on the outside.” When our group showed up, the conflicts between them and the Alexandrians arguably caused some of Alexandria’s downfall. They all saw for the first time the reality that is decision making in the zombie apocalypse, and Ron witnessed his dad get murdered. We’ve seen Ron’s anger and we’ve seen him lash out since his father’s death. Any interactions with him and Carl or Rick are filled with tension, and it’s built up to tonight’s episode. Right away, Rick teaching Ron to shoot didn’t feel right, and that was validated when we saw Ron sneak into the armory, steal bullets, and then follow Carl with his loaded gun. If Ron actually does end up shooting Carl, will he shoot his eye out, like in the comics? Another question we’ll have to wait to see answered.

Carol vs. Morgan

We haven’t seen much of Carol since episode two “JSS” when the Wolves attacked Alexandria. Carol was kicking ass and taking names while Morgan was refusing to kill anyone per his new credo. This created huge tension between the two characters. Carol ends up killing a man that Morgan is attempting to apprehend, as she should have, but Morgan now firmly believes that all life is precious. In “Heads Up” we saw Morgan bringing Denise to help one of the Wolves he captured. When Carol discovers this, we see tensions rise again. How will this tension build up in the future? Will we see Carol snap and kill Morgan? This relationship is one of the most complicated in the show and this won’t be the last we see of it.

Rosita’s Poetic Truth

One of the best and perhaps most brutally truthful moments we’ve seen in the show was Rosita’s speech to Eugene, when he was too scared to practice swinging a blade. We’ve gone through five and a half seasons of struggles and harsh realities for our characters, but Rosita’s spoken reality was one of the most heart-wrenchingly honest. “Dying is simple. The people around you dying. That’s the hard part. Living is hard.” At this point, it can be assumed that while giving this speech, she is thinking of Abraham. She doesn’t know where he is or if he is alive, and even if they are not in a relationship as it would suggest, it’s never easy not knowing. We’ve lost so many people in this show, and we’ve seen our characters struggle with their losses, so Rosita’s harsh reality holds some water and hits home.

Next week is the mid-season finale, and it’s going to be a big one. Knowing the show, we’ll be left with numerous questions again, and possibly mourning a few losses.

Courtney is a senior undergraduate student studying mass media communications, hoping to work in major event planning or media marketing. Aside from being a massive Walking Dead fan, she is a pop culture fanatic subscribing to many fandoms. She is also an avid video game player and vinyl record collector.